What he loved the most
by ShellyStark
Summary: Anthony Edward Stark loved his job. Companion to "What she loved the most" You should read that one first, but you don't have to.


**A/N Awww you guys are awesome, I didn't expect to continue on, but all that great feedback just couldn't be ignored. This one is a bit longer, I found Tony a bit easier to write. Thank you all so much! And I hope you enjoy. **

**And since I forgot on my first one.**

**I don't own Ironman, Tony Stark, Or Pepper Potts, but boy do I wish I did.**

Anthony Edward Stark absolutely loved his job, even if he had somebody else do it for him. Sure he could check his own email, and figure out what needed signing, but it gave him an excuse to see her. His stomach did a flip, and his heart fluttered each time she came down the stairs into the workshop.

"Please don't turn down my music." He loved it when she did, he was able to hear the clicks of her heels, making her presence that much more meaningful.

"Tony what are you doing, you do realize you have a meeting in less than two hours." She was holding a fresh batch of papers to sign in one hand, a heavenly cup of coffee in the other.

"My name is on the building Potts, they can wait." He loved how her cheeks turned red when he pushed her buttons.

"Just be there Tony." He smiled as he watched her march back up the stairs, knowing she would come back once more to pry him out of the workshop.

The first time he came home battered and bruised, she was there, waiting.

"Oh Tony." She sighed while applying ice packs and ointments. That was all it took, she would be there every time, waiting, worrying. She was his reason for making it home, to push himself to be a better man. Time and time again she was there for him, even when he tried to push her away.

"I can patch myself up you know." He knew he sounded like an ass, but it had been a bad night, he wanted to spend the rest of it alone with a bottle of scotch.

"I don't mind Tony. It makes me feel better to know your ok."

"Well maybe I mind!" He shot out of his seat as she finished placing a bandage on his arm. "I don't need a damn nanny." He felt bad, real bad, but he wasn't about to break down in front of her. She stared at him in shock for a moment, before storming out and up the stairs. If the workshop door could slam it would have shaken the mansion. He filled his glass with ice, and filled it to the brim, and stared at it. He promised her he would try to stop drinking, and even now he couldn't bring the glass to his lips, he just watched as the ice melted, the liquid pooling in a ring on his desk. He threw the glass across the room, and went upstairs, he shouldn't have pushed her away, he needed her, and he found her, sitting on his couch. She never left, and as selfish as it may have seemed, he was glad. Her eyes were red, and now he felt guilty, horribly guilty.

"Hey." He said quietly, carefully, as he sat beside her.

"Hi." She whispered. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Pepper…..I'm sorry…so very sorry." His eyes were getting glassy, his voice cracking. "I didn't mean what I said, I like having you here. I need you." He watched the sadness in her ocean blue eyes slowly begin to fade.

"What happened Tony?" The sadness and concern in her voice broke him. For the first time since his parents died, Anthony Edward Stark cried.

"I couldn't do anything Pep, I watched as families were torn apart, children murdered, and I couldn't do a damn thing! I didn't get there in time." He fell into her, and she held him, running her hand through his hair, trying to soothe him.

"It's not your fault Tony, you can't be everywhere at once." She rocked him softly, as he wept against her like a broken child. "You should get some sleep."

"Will you stay with me….please Pepper….please stay, I don't want to be alone."

"Of course I'll stay, come on." He knew then that he never wanted her to leave, she had seen him at his best, she had seen him at his worst, and yet she still stood by his side.

He placed the small velvet box on her desk in the office he set up for her at the mansion. Attaching a yellow post-it that simply said _from Tony, _he waited from a distance for her to enter. As she went in he quietly followed her and leaned against the door frame. He watched as she eyed the box curiously gently lifting the lid. Her eyes sparkled, and her mouth dropped open. He cleared his throat and she turned around.

"Tony is this….."

"Hmmm Pepper Stark, has a nice ring to it don't you think?" He gave her that grin he saved just for her, not that fake publicity smile, a smile of pure joy and full of love. She jumped into his arms laughing and crying at the same time.

"Sooo…..yes?" Her face was that beautiful shade of red that he loved, and she looked the happiest he had ever seen her.

"Yes Tony! Oh my god yes!" He pulled her in and brought his lips to hers, they fit together perfectly, as if they were meant to be joined.

"I love you Pepper, more than anything else in this world, I love you so much."

Anthony Edward Stark loved his job, because it gave him Pepper, and each day he loved her even more.

**Thanks for reading! **

**-don't forget to push that magic button!**

**-shelly ****J**


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